The Rolex Sweep

[kman]

Something a bit different that I haven't seen here but on some other forums. Tried to capture the sweeping second hand of my Rolex over a 1s exposure, bit hit n miss I think just playing with ISO and aperture settings.

1st image: flash fired still of the dial (yes should've cleaned the crystal a bit beforehand!)

2nd image: 1s sweep of the seconds hand

3rd image: capturing the other end of the seconds hand

4th image: probably my least favourite exposure but tried a rear curtain sync flash 1s exposure

c&c welcome especially any tips for getting that seconds hand crisp - wasn't sure what would help - change aperture or increase/decrease the iso

 

[Flash In The Pan]

Remember that even genuine Rolex second hands don't actually sweep, they still "tick" but at the rate (in the case of the 3135 movement in the Submariner) at 480 bpm, or 8 ticks per second.

 

[kman]

Remember that even genuine Rolex second hands don't actually sweep, they still "tick" but at the rate (in the case of the 3135 movement in the Submariner) at 480 bpm, or 8 ticks per second.

yes thats correct - i count 8 on the 3rd pic there , but its made to look like a continuous sweep as opposed to a quartz movement which would just tick every second.

 

[Divemaster]

Like the 3rd image personally great catch

 

[CReid]

Another WIS in the house?? 8s exposure on my P&S clearly showing this is a quartz and not a mechanical movement:

Edit: The best way to capture faster analogue movements is to light paint using a strobe firing at fixed interval (1s), this will create a sweep effect with wider "tick" seperation.

Carl